​​​​​​​Human Rights Office: Mr. Ocalan did not meet with the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture

Al-Asr Human Rights Office published a written statement regarding the strict isolation and complete lack of information on the leader Abdullah Ocalan.

The statement stated: "Our client, Mr. Abdullah Ocalan, has been detained since February 1999 until now in a high-security Imrali prison, as well as our other clients, Mr. Hamîlî Yildirim, Omer Hayrî Konar and Veysî Aktaş, since March 2015. The conditions in which our clients are detained are inconsistent with international laws and they cannot enjoy any of their rights.” The statement stated that despite all the requests submitted regarding these violations, the legal rights of their clients have not been fulfilled.

All their contacts with the outside were cut off

The statement stated that "the clients Hamîlî Yildirim, Omer Hayrî Konar and Veysî Aktaş, did not attend the telephone meeting in protest of the state of isolation. Mr. Ocalan's meeting with his brother was also cut off before it was completed," noting that all forms of communication were cut off since that time. He added, "It has been 20 months since we did not meet our clients, who were completely cut off from the outside world."

The statement of the Human Rights Office of the al-Asr referred to the visit that the European Committee against Torture conducted to Imrali on September 20 and 29, 2022, and added: “Although this visit was our main demand, what preceded the visit as well as the method of implementing the visit and the developments that followed the visit increased our fears. Accordingly, the committee responded to our concerns and met with us on October 13^th, 2022. During this meeting, the officials of the committee did not provide us with any information about the circumstances and conditions of our client, nor did they answer any of our questions. They said that they will prepare a report about the visit and hand it over to Turkey, and only Turkish officials have the right to share the report. with public opinion.

The visit of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture increased our fears

The statement also stated: “We know from our previous experience that this procedure (preparing the report) is completed between a year and a half. In such a situation where we cannot obtain any information, such a long time will lead to serious damage that cannot be avoided. Of course, We are aware of the procedures and laws of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture, but we also know that this matter does not prevent them from providing us with information about our clients whom we have not known anything about for 20 months, and according to the information we obtained that during the visit of the Committee against Torture in September 2022 Mr. Ocalan did not attend the meeting. Unfortunately, the committee did not confirm this to us during our meeting with it. After this information that we obtained, the committee's visit opened the doors to many questions. For these reasons, the committee's last visit, as well as our last meeting with the committee, increased of our fears rather than removing them."